Megalomaniac: 11 characteristics

Do you know anyone who has the conviction that everything they say, think or do is great? If the answer is yes, you probably have to weigh it against these characteristics of a megalomaniac. This is the type of person who he despises others because he considers himself superior to them due to oversized egotism. Now, how to identify them? We tell you.

What is megalomania?

Although it is quite common to find people who are proud of themselves, with an optimistic view of their abilities and who believe they are capable of anything, sometimes it is not so easy to know if they are megalomaniacs or not. A clue would be that Such a high self-perception is accompanied by rejection or contempt from everyone around him. considering it inferior.

The term derives from Greek, combining the words megasthat is, large, and maniawhich would be obsession. Megalomania is a psychological condition included in narcissistic personality disorder as symptomatology, according to him Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V).

However, to know if a person has megalomania as part of a disorder, attention is paid to whether or not there are delusional ideas, that is, if they experience fantasies of power, relevance and omnipotence that lead them to consider themselves the best. This is the main difference with respect to a narcissistic person; since a narcissist has an inferiority complex and only creates a shell.

In fact, as a study published by the Political Psychology Magazinehistorical figures such as Napoleon Bonaparte, Hitler, Stalin or Mao Zedong are personalities to whom megalomaniacal traits are attributed. and narcissism; traits that prompted some of them to propose nothing less than the conquest of the world.

If we delve deeper into their idiosyncrasies, we discover that they all believed they were the only ones capable of saving their territories and conquering new countries to enlarge their homeland. They saw themselves as essential saviors, in constant search for the enlargement of power in a spiral of true delirium.

And it is that people who express the impulse to rise as the sole agents of the greatest conquests, under the belief of having absolute power, experience a worsening of their pathological symptoms as a consequence, precisely, of believing themselves responsible and capable of the unattainable. As history has shown, these end up becoming dangerous rulers capable of the most reckless actions.

Thus, a megalomaniac has a disproportionate concept of himself and craves social valuation, which he attributes to the achievement of positions of power and relevance. However, although they show a lot of self-confidence, if their personality is analyzed in depth, it can be detected that They are individuals with more deficiencies and an unexpected feeling of inferiority or social emptiness.

Being a megalomaniacal leader

What profile do this type of personality most commonly assume? People who hold a relevant, important or powerful position can sometimes acquire a distorted perception of their works. This exaggeration reaches the point that for them no person is capable of admiring their art: Their abilities, skills, beauty, purchasing power, academic achievements, etc., are impossible to understand for those around them..

On the other hand, this is shocking for those who receive this information. Those who know a megalomaniac even think that such a degree of exaggeration may be an act, but this is only due to the apparent confidence they exude.

Their desire for recognition in the case of some artists, for example, is directly related to achieving fame through different means. In this way, they try to show the world their apparent superiority and greatness. Besides, Far from being a short stage or lasting a season, in certain individuals it can even last a lifetime.

11 characteristics to detect a megalomaniac

All of these features, on paper, sound very simple. However, when applying them to reality it can be somewhat difficult to go from abstraction to concrete. Therefore, here are some defining traits of megalomaniacs, supported by the European Institute of Positive Psychology:

They are extremely conceited. They feel that their presence is essential in any meeting.They believe they are indestructible, capable of solving any problem that arises. They are capable of anything to gain power and this includes manipulating others.They behave as if they were omnipotent and they like to test the abilities of the people around them to boast about them.They consider themselves to have unlimited strength and capacity. However, what happens to them with this thinking, in general, is that they get into trouble because it exceeds their resources or abilities.They like tests and risks to take to an extraordinary point abilities that, in reality, they do not possess.They don’t usually learn from their mistakes and, therefore, experience does not make them correct their mistakes.They have a narcissistic and idealized image of themselves.They pay attention to the way others react to what they do or say. If they are rejected by others because of their maladjusted behavior, they think that the problem belongs to others.vanitysupported by a strongly overrated ego and fueled by a marked superiority complex, It makes them despise everything that does not refer to themselves.They suffer from reference biases (and sometimes delusions). They believe that many of the stimuli in their environment have to do with themselves or send them messages.They have problems in their daily life. Since their behavior includes contempt and mistreatment of others, megalomaniacs tend to have problems with their friends, family, or even at work.

Freud and megalomania: perspectives of psychoanalysis

One of the professionals in the field of science who most studied psychopathic traits and megalomania was Sigmund Freud. The same He considered it a characteristic of personalities with neurotic traits when evaluating their patients. What’s more, he considered it, in turn, an obstacle to the study of psychoanalysts. Along these lines, other contributions are worth highlighting.

Edmund Bergler, an Austrian psychiatrist who agreed with Freud, added that megalomania can be activated again as a game over time. Otto Fenichel, another Austrian psychoanalyst, added that people who deny narcissistic damage go through a regression similar to the megalomania of First years of life. That is, something like the acceptance period that, for example, people with depression go through when they think that they are not «good enough that they should be for something»as indicated in an article published by the Chilean Journal of Neuro-Psychiatry.

Years later, The later psychodynamic current (particularly in North America and Great Britain) would later define megalomania as a disorder that serves as a defense mechanism. That is to say, reality does not allow you to satisfy your impulses and that is why unlimited power is shown to be the best tool to achieve it.

Today, the concept of megalomania from Freud’s point of view is somewhat counterproductive. There are profiles with a high ego and high self-esteem, but with the megalomaniac personality we are starting from a much more complex and serious disorder that must be reviewed by a professional. However, it is true that the theories derived from his thoughts and those authors whom he inspired were a before and after in the advances in understanding the disorder.

What is behind the personality of a megalomaniac?

The megalomaniac refuses to recognize that inside he harbors a fearful, self-conscious and lacking person. Therefore, he uses verbal aggression or the imposition of his false omnipotence as a defense mechanism.

On the other hand, because of his fear of being surpassed, ridicules anyone who makes him feel threatened and, as a consequence, he harms everyone he perceives as a threat to his ego. However, behind that mask takes refuge a person full of insecurity and a feeling of incapacity who struggles not to appear vulnerable to others.

By trying to exaggerate his abilities and dramatize his achievements, the megalomaniac unintentionally manifests weak self-esteem and a poor ability to cope with frustration.

The arrogance and behavioral excess of the megalomaniac usually leads him to a situation of deep loneliness, since it is not usually accepted by others. Other times, he is the one who isolates himself; His feeling of superiority keeps him out of interaction with those people he considers inferior.

However, This loneliness, both received and self-imposed, leads to a strong feeling of emotional emptiness, which can further aggravate your discomfort and increase pathological symptoms.

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